I'm thinking 6-6 with 4-0 in non conference and a couple of SEC wins............

This is difficult to project. Bielema had 25 slots to fill in his first recruiting class. Morris had 16, maybe 2-3 more than that as it may work out eventually.

Bielema had to convert from a Petrino style offense to a Pro Style. Morris has to convert from a Pro Style to a "Clemson-like" Offense that is more similar to Petrino than Bielema.

Bielema inherited little talent that was of the kind that he needed to make his offense or defense work as he was accustomed to doing things. Morris on the other hand, inherits a much better existing talent base and depth level and it is up to him to convert it in a short time to what he wants them to do.

I think that the results of the last couple of seasons has led a lot of people to think that we have less talent on campus than we actually do. I don't expect miracles from the Morris staff, but I do think that we will achieve more than many expect.

Iím most interested in seeing how we play against inferior teams. I donít foresee CCM struggling to beat an Eastern Illinois type program in year one. If he does Iíll be concerned like I was when Bielema struggled to beat Samford.

Iím most interested in seeing how we play against inferior teams. I donít foresee CCM struggling to beat an Eastern Illinois type program in year one. If he does Iíll be concerned like I was when Bielema struggled to beat Samford.

Not disagreeing, just saying; remember Petrino's first two games were a 28-24 win against Western Illinois and a 28-27 win over Louisiana-Monroe.

And apart from the three subsequent games against very good teams that year, we were very competitive in all others. I really think we'll see something similar this year, which is why 5-7 won't be the end of the world.

Sure, compare with other coaches. The honest comparisons will weigh the influence a new staff has over the team in those comparisons. Far most useful comparisons would be comparing fifth year records. Probably the best comparison would be a comparison of a range of years from about 3 to 8 or so if the staff was around that long, just to make the sample size more meaningful.

But sure, compare away. I mean, you can compare anything. It just isn't always useful.

Not disagreeing, just saying; remember Petrino's first two games were a 28-24 win against Western Illinois and a 28-27 win over Louisiana-Monroe.

And apart from the three subsequent games against very good teams that year, we were very competitive in all others. I really think we'll see something similar this year, which is why 5-7 won't be the end of the world.

In Petrinoís case you could see the offense coming on while the defense struggled. With Bielema we struggled on both sides of the ball against a team not even as good as a W. IL or and E. iL. ULM is a prettty decent program compared to the others weíve mentioned.

I think Morrisí style (assuming we donít struggle to implement it) lends itself to beating inferior teams most of the time.

Sure, compare with other coaches. The honest comparisons will weigh the influence a new staff has over the team in those comparisons. Far most useful comparisons would be comparing fifth year records. Probably the best comparison would be a comparison of a range of years from about 3 to 8 or so if the staff was around that long, just to make the sample size more meaningful.

But sure, compare away. I mean, you can compare anything. It just isn't always useful.

I'm thinking 6-6 with 4-0 in non conference and a couple of SEC wins............

When I think back to Nutt's first season, I think that Danny Ford left a lot of talent. I see Bielema as recruiting a lot of the same type of players and I'm hoping CCM will be able to utilize that talent like Nutt utilized Ford's.

I call at least 6 but would'nt be suprised to see 8 or 9 with the schedule. That being said it all depends on how well the players adapt on both sides of the ball. If we score 40 but give up 41 then we are the same as last year but if the Chief changes our D then we win more than people think. If the players adapt to this O like most of them should cause most (this is an assumption) played this pace and similar style in HS picks up on CM style then we will go bowling and have a fun year and team to watch

This is difficult to project. Bielema had 25 slots to fill in his first recruiting class. Morris had 16, maybe 2-3 more than that as it may work out eventually.

Bielema had to convert from a Petrino style offense to a Pro Style. Morris has to convert from a Pro Style to a "Clemson-like" Offense that is more similar to Petrino than Bielema.

Bielema inherited little talent that was of the kind that he needed to make his offense or defense work as he was accustomed to doing things. Morris on the other hand, inherits a much better existing talent base and depth level and it is up to him to convert it in a short time to what he wants them to do.

I think that the results of the last couple of seasons has led a lot of people to think that we have less talent on campus than we actually do. I don't expect miracles from the Morris staff, but I do think that we will achieve more than many expect.

Another thing that makes it difficult to compare first year records is that the SEC, and in particular the SECW, is not the same as it was in HDN, BP and BB's first year. For HDN in 98, the power was all in the east. LSU and Bama were terrible. For BP's first year, Fla and Bama were the top SEC teams, and he had both on his first year schedule, plus 2 ranked non-conference games. In BB's first year, the west was loaded. 6 of 7 played in the post season and 4 of those 6 finished in the top 25.

We can only speculate about the landscape of the SEC at this point, but I have a feeling that it is going to be tougher than the SEC that Nutt faced his first year, but maybe not quite as difficult as what BB faced.

A 4-8 team getting a new coach, a new offense, a new defense with other big questions marks? We don't even know who the QB will be. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. 6 wins next year would be fantastic, but I'm thinking more on the 5 range with a lot of excitement going into 2019.

A 4-8 team getting a new coach, a new offense, a new defense with other big questions marks? We don't even know who the QB will be. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. 6 wins next year would be fantastic, but I'm thinking more on the 5 range with a lot of excitement going into 2019.

Exactly.

Pre-2017 season: This is year 5 for Bielema. Best team he's had. He's established here. These players are all his. Less than 10 wins is a bust. Go 4-8.Pre-2018 season: New coach. New assistants. New offense. New defense. Essentially same team as last year. 8-4? Sure, no problem.

9-3 bc the pieces are there on offense and our D just got tons better with the Chief and new D staff.

CCM wins SEC Coach of the Year.

If he does this and I hope he does. Recruiting will take off like a rocket. This staff will put in the hard work, I'm sure of that. What they need to take this team to the next level is a really good season with a lot of media buzz. Your prophesy above would be just the catalyst needed.

6-6 is the safe bet... If the QB situation turns out better than expected, then it may go up to 8-4... but in a bad QB fit to system situation (coupled with lack of experience), it may be 4-8. QB situation and ability to pass rush on defense will determine where we end up between 4-8 and 8-4.

Offense is probably going to score a lot of points. Defense? Who knows. Last year, with an SMU team that had mediocre talent for even teams outside the Power 5, SMU scored plenty of points against their best opponents. In their five games against Navy, UCF, Memphis, Houston and TCU, SMU average scoring 33.4 points. Those five schools averaged giving up 25.42 points/game. So Morris showed last year his team can score against the toughest teams on their schedule (including teams that had good defenses). For example, TCU allowed 17.6 points/game. SMU scored 36 against them. Only OU and Stanford score more points against TCU. The stories of SMU against Navy and Memphis were similar. So with a fair amount of talent on the Hill and a dynamic offense, we should win all four non-conference games and beat Vanderbilt or Missouri. That leaves losses to Auburn, A&M, Alabama, LSU and Mississippi State. I'm going to say we beat Ole Miss at home since they didn't look great last year and lost Patterson. So that appears to leave us at 6-6, which would be OK for a first-year coach. Now, if the offensive line play improves a little and with a little luck ...